LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For only the second time in ten years, Jefferson County Public Schools is building a new school.

What You Need To Know

  • JCPS breaks ground on new school

  • It will be located behind Indian Trail Elementary

  • Indian Trail Elementary will be torn down once new school is built

  • New elementary school expected to open for 2022-23 school year

JCPS broke ground Tuesday for a new elementary school in Louisville's Newburg neighborhood. The $16.5M, 82,000 square foo school is being built behind Indian Trail Elementary school on land owned by JCPS. Once the new school is built, Indian Trail Elementary will be torn down.

“This new, state-of-the-art neighborhood school will replace a building that opened in 1960 and has run its course,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio. “These are the kinds of modern facilities that have been proven to enhance learning and that we can build all over Jefferson County if our investment plan is approved by voters.”

Planned JCPS Elementary School 

Like Indian Trail Elementary, the new school will emphasize hands-on learning. The new school will feature:

  • A large courtyard to accommodate outdoor classes
  • Wide corridors with a series of nodes for small groups to gather
  • A Media Center and gymnasium which can be used as event space
  • Flexible classrooms to support “maker spaces”
  • Geothermal heating and cooling
  • Energy-saving features including LED lights, a “cool roof” and low flow plumbing fixtures  
  • A tornado storm shelter — the first in JCPS and one of the first in Kentucky

“This will be a building that teachers, students, and their families can be proud of,” said JCPS District Six school board member Dr. Corrie Shull. “I expect this to be a center for enhanced learning and a gathering space for the people who live in the Newburg area.”

The new school will open in time for the 2022-23 school year. The other JCPS school to be built recently was Norton Commons Elementary School in 2016.